Device for uncapping and recapping cartridge - shells



(No Model.)

N. M. MUZZY. DEVICE FDR DNGADPING AND DDGAPPING CARTRIDGE SDDLLS. No. 404,855.

Patented June 1l, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN M. MUZZY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DEVCE FOR UNCAPPING AND RECAPPING CARTRIDGE-SHELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,855, dated June 11, 1889.

Serial No. 234,840. (No model.)

To au whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, NATHAN M. MUZZY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for. Uneapping and Recapping Cartridge-Shells, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view of an apparatus embodying my invention, the parts being in the position assumed during the operation of capping or recapping; Fig. 2, a transverse sectional view taken on the line x of Fig. l; Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. l, but with the parts in the position assumed during the operation of uncapping; Fig. 4, a sectional view taken on the liney y of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a plan section taken on the line z ,e of Fig. l, and Fig. 6 a detail end elevation of the upper end of the standard.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the iigures of the drawings.

My invention relates to apparatus for uncapping and recapping cartridge-shells, and more particularly to that class in which these two operations are performed by means of one apparatus; and it has for its object to produce an apparatus whereby the used or discharged caps or primers may be readily removed from the shells and new caps or primers placed in their stead bythe same apparatus without removing or handling the shell, the whole being cheap and simple in construction and easy and effective of operation.

To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features, which I will non7 proceed to describe, and will then particularly point out in the claims.

In the drawings, A represents a suitable base upon which the various parts are mounted, and B the support or post to receive the shell C. The said shell-support is preferably detachable from the base A, being secured thereon by means of screws b, and is hollow interiorly to receive the plunger D, which is arranged within the said support, and is free to move vertically therein, its reduced upper end d passing through a suitable aperture in the top of the support, as shown. The upper portion of the support l is preferably somewhat reduced in diameter to acconnnodate the same to the varying' internal configuration of different shells.

rFhe plunger D maybe of a sufficient diameter to fill the interior of the support B; 'but I prefer to construct it in the manner shown, in which it is of a less diameter and is provided with a disk or collar D', which, in conjunction with the reduced upper end d of the said plunger, passing through the aperture in the top of the support B, serves to guide the plunger and prevent lateral movement thereof.

Y E represents a standard rising from the base A and serving to support the pressurelever F, which is pivotcd to the said standard so as to swing in a vertical plane passing through the support I3. The lever F is also capable of rotation around its longitudinal axis, and the construction which I prefer to employ in order to obtain these two movements of the said lever is that shown in the drawings, in which the rear end of the lever F has a bearing and is free to rotate in an arm F, pivoted to thc upper end of the standard E. A pin f on the lever F serves to rctain it in position in the arm F', the end of the said pin being also reduced, as shown, for this purpose, and the upper portion of the arm F is cut away for some distance, as,

shown at f', to accon'nnodatc the pin f, the ends of the said cut-away portion serving, in conjunction with the pin, as stops to limit the rotary movement of the lever F and prevent its being turned too far.

The pressure-lever F extends over the shellsupport B, and is provided at a point above the center of the same with a projection F2 for removing the caps and with a projection F3 for replacing the same. These projections may be of any suitable forin for their purpose, the former being shown in the present instance as hollow, so as to straddle the cap and bear upon the shell, while the latter is adapted to bear directly upon the cap and press the saine into place. The projections F2 and F are arranged at equal distances from the end of the lever F, but upon differroo ent portions of its circumference, the one being distant about one-quarter of said circumference from the other, so that by giving the said lever a quarter-turn one way or the other either one of said projections may be brought directly over the center of the shellsupport B. The lever F is also provided, near its rear end, with cam projections f2 and f3, correspondin g with the projections F2 and F3, and arranged in line therewith. These proj ections maybe made continuous, if desired; or, inother words, a single cam. projection of sufficient llength to extend from one to the other may be substituted.

G indicates a vertical lever pivoted to the standard E, and having its upper end slotted or'formed into a yoke g to embrace that portion of the lever F upon which the cam projections f2 and f3 are located. The lower end of the lever G is connected to the rear end of a cam-lever H, which is arranged horizontally and extends forward under the shell-support B, Where it terminates.

rIhe cam-lever Il is preferably arranged in a recess a in the base A, and its pivot may be formed, as shown, by means of a central circular portion fitting in a correspondinglyshaped portion of the said recess a. At its forward end the cam-lever II is provided, immediately underneath the plunger D, with a cam H for operating the said plunger7 said cam having an inclined portion 7i for lifting the plunger, and a flat top portion h2 for the said plunger to rest upon when raised.

The operation of my improved apparatus is as follows: It being desired to remove the old cap from a discharged shell and replace it with a new one prior to reloading the shell, the shell C, having the usual recessed and apertured anvil c, in which the cap C is in position, is placed upon the shell-support B, upon which it rests in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The pressurelever F is then given a quarter-turn, thus bringing the uncapping projection F2 into operative position. This rotary motion of the lever F actuates, through the medium of the cam projections f2 and f3, the yoked lever G, and this latter in turn actuates the cam-lever I-l, which lifts the plunger D by means ofits cam l-I until the said plunger rests upon the flat top surface h2 of the said cam. The up ward movement of the plunger D carries the shell C upward into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and the pressure-lever F is their depressed, so that the projection F2, bearing upon the base of the shell, will force downward until clear of the cap C', which is supported by the plunger. The shell will, when clear of the cap, drop into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and the old cap being removed and the lever F rotated so as to bring the proj ecn tion F3 into operative position, the said rotation of the lever will lower the plunger through the mechanism described. A new cap may then be placed in position and forced home by the projection Fgby depressing the lever F, as shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings. The recapped shell may then be removed from the support and the same series of operations performed upon the next shell.

It will be seen that no handling of tlie'ff-mmwea shell is necessary from the time it is/pT/aced upon the support until it is removed, and that the act of turning the pressure-lever to bring the uncapping or recapping projection into position serves to move the plunger into proper position to co-operate.

The apparatus is simple and strong as well as cheap in construction and easy and reliable in operation, performing its functions rapidly and efficiently.

It is obvious that various modifications in the details of construction maybe made without departing from the principle of my invention, and I therefore do not wish to be un derstood as limiting myself strictly to the pred cise details hereinbefore described, and shown in the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

l. In an apparatus for uncapping and recapping cartridge shells, the combination, with the shell support and the verticallymovable plunger therein, of the pivoted pressure-lever capable of rotation around its longitudinal axis, and provided with the uncapping and recapping projections at different points of its circumference above the shellsupport, the cam-lever for actuating the plunger, and the intermediate lever connected to said cam-lever and actuated by the rotation of the pressure-lever, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In an apparatus for uncapping and recapping cartridge-shells, the combination, with the shell-support and the verticallymovable plunger therein, of the pivoted. pressure-lever capable of rotation around its longitudinal axis, and provided with the uncapping and recapping projections arranged at different points of its circumference above the shell-support, and the cam proj ect-ion or projections on said pressure-lever, the cam* lever for operating the plunger, and the intermediate lever connected to said cam-lever and having a yoke to embrace the said cam projections, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

8. In an apparatus for uncapping and recapping cartridge-shells, the combination, with the shellesupport 'and the verticallymovable plunger therein, of the pivoted pressure-lever capable of rotation around its longitudinal axis and provided with stops to limit said rotation, the uncapping and recapping projections arranged at different points on the circumference of said lever above the shell-support, and suitable connecting mech- IOO ITO

anisln, actuated by the rotation of the pressplunger, and being provided with cam Il', 1o

ure-lever, to operate the plunger, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. In an apparatus for unoapping and reoapping cartridge-shells, the combination, with the shell-support and the verticallymovalole plunger Jherein, of the cani-lever Il, for operating said plunger, said cam-lever being' arranged below the lower end of said having` inclined surface 7L and flat top sur face 712, substantially as and for the purposes speeiliecL NATHAN M. MUZZY.

fitnessesz TH. D. BENTLEY, J ERoME W. MILLINGToN. 

